Brendan Rodgers has urged his Liverpool FC players to respond like ‘champions’ as he insisted: “This title race is still alive.”

The Reds boss is confident there will be no hangover following last weekend’s agonising defeat at home to Chelsea which ended a run of 11 successive league wins.

Liverpool’s fate may no longer be in their own hands but during a players’ meeting at Melwood this week Rodgers reminded his squad of the position they still occupy at the Premier League summit.

The message was clear – this is no time for anyone to be feeling sorry for themselves.

“Of course the Chelsea game was a big disappointment,” Rodgers said.

“There were a couple of days of grieving after losing such a game. It’s one where you have to get it out of your system.

“But I’ve reminded the players what champions do and what top professionals to. When they have a setback, they pick themselves up and they go again.

“It hasn’t been a challenge for me to pick everyone up. The beauty of this group of players is their mentality and attitude.

“I told them that however much that defeat hurt, it hurt because it mattered. It hurt because we were in such a good position.

“With a couple of games to go we are still top of the league. We’re two points clear with two games to go. That’s what we reminded the players about.

“We never dwell too much on the disappointments. We refocus on the next challenge.”

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Liverpool must win their remaining two matches – at Crystal Palace on Monday night and at home to Newcastle next Sunday – and hope Manchester City slip up.

Manuel Pellegrini’s men are three points adrift of the leaders but with a game in hand and a superior goal difference.

Rodgers, who will be watching with interest when City face Everton at Goodison today, is convinced there could yet be another twist in the battle for glory.

“I still think there are things that will happen,” he said.

“Manchester City have got three games to play in a week and that isn’t easy, especially in the last week of the season.

“They have a huge game against Everton. That will be a tough one for City.

“But for us, our concentration is on ourselves. All we can do is win our final two games. If we can do that and get to 86 points then that will put us in a strong position. Then we will see where it takes us.

“I am very proud of what this team has achieved this season and there is still a bit to go in this title race.”

Much has been made this week about whether Everton will want to risk do their neighbours a favour by taking points off City but Rodgers has no concerns about the approach of Roberto Martinez’s men.

“Make no mistake, Everton are a terrific football club in their own right,” he said.

“They are one of the big clubs in British football. They have their own pride and their own reasons why they want to win the game.

“They have done really well this year and are still vying for that Champions League place. They have been very strong at home and they have some outstanding players.

“Manchester City have found it difficult going to Goodison in recent years. It certainly won’t be because of Liverpool that Everton are pushing for the win, it will be for themselves.

“Of course whenever it’s out of your hands you hope that other teams can do you a favour but you can only really control your own destiny. That means looking to our next game and winning against Crystal Palace.”

Rodgers’ preparations for the trip to Selhurst Park have involved hours of analysing the frustrating clash with Chelsea. Liverpool enjoyed 73% possession but failed to make it count against Jose Mourinho’s defensive shield.

After initially slamming his former mentor for ‘parking two buses’, Rodgers confirmed he later sent the Portuguese boss a message of congratulations.

“I’ve watched the game twice and looked at it in great depth,” he said. “Chelsea – a team in the Champions League semi-finals – showed us a huge amount of respect. It was very difficult for us to break them down. You had a back four who played really narrow and defended very strongly. The two wingers dropped in to make it a back six and they had three midfield players in front of that.

“There were many aspects of our game which were very good. The speed of our game was excellent. We just couldn’t find solutions in the final third and that’s something we’ve worked hard at in training this week.”